A8
FRIDAY
April 23, 2021
Spring Sports
SeasideSignal.com
Gulls off to hot starts in softball, baseball
By GARY HENLEY
Seaside Signal
To call this year’s sports
reopening “long-awaited”
would have been an under-
statement for hundreds of
high school athletes around
the state.
For the first time in
nearly two years, baseball
and softball players, golfers
and track athletes were out
and about, actually compet-
ing in events sanctioned by
the Oregon School Activi-
ties Association.
“It was amazing. It was
a long-awaited wait,” said
Seaside softball player
Kandice Flaigg, whose team
opened the 2021 season last
Tuesday at Astoria. “Two
years is too long for us.”
With the exception of
a few non-OSAA baseball
and softball games last sum-
mer, along with some vir-
tual meets for track athletes,
spring sports had not seen
the light of day since 2019.
Scheduled events last
Monday
and
Tuesday
marked the official return of
high school spring sports in
Oregon.
Players were a bit rusty,
some skills have dimin-
ished and games weren’t
the prettiest — but athletes
and coaches were back on
the field, and that’s all they
wanted.
“We didn’t have any
seniors last year, so this
year’s senior group has been
waiting for eons to play this
one,” said Seaside softball
coach Joel Dierickx.
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Seaside pitcher Gracie Rhodes winds up.
And Flaigg’s team hap-
pened to be victorious, as
Seaside topped the Lady
Fishermen 16-12 in Cow-
apa League softball at CMH
Field.
“We were just going to
give our best effort, and put
everything into the short
season that we’ll have,” said
the senior. “We got going,
and we realized that, ‘Oh my
gosh, we’re winning!’”
And win they did, snap-
ping a string of 13 straight
victories for the Fishermen.
In Seaside, the Gulls
topped the Fishermen 15-12
in a Clatsop Clash baseball
opener.
Rosters have
a different look
Rosters and teams around
the state looked a lot differ-
ent than last seen.
In Oregon, the 2019-
20 high school sports year
ended in March 2020,
abruptly bringing state bas-
ketball tournaments to a
close just as they were set to
begin.
Baseball and softball
players, along with golf and
track athletes, got the short
end of the stick, so to speak.
Individuals and teams
competing in spring sports
never made it to the field,
as their seasons were com-
pletely canceled.
Couple that with a short
preseason, and it’s been a
while since spring sport ath-
letes have seen the field,
which made for a few errors
in season openers.
Softball
In softball, Seaside
topped Astoria 16-12, snap-
ping a string of 13 straight
Astoria wins going back to
2015.
Typical of most openers
last week, the Clatsop Clash
baseball game got off to a
slow start, with a combined
eight runs on one hit, seven
walks and a couple of big
errors in a 40-minute first
inning.
In softball, “we only
(had) six days of practice
before our first game, and
we came in realizing that
we’re barely into the sea-
son, and we’ll put forth what
we have,” Dierickx said. “A
couple of us were a little late
on our timing, but we hav-
en’t seen live pitching for
two years.”
On the other hand, “Gra-
cie (Rhodes, the Seaside
pitcher) was on fire tonight.
She had some amazing
pitches. Erin (Owsley) made
an amazing stop on a big line
drive. We were definitely a
little rusty at the start, but
came out of it.”
The Lady Gulls led 11-5
after four innings, then
held off a rally by the Lady
Fishermen.
Seaside’s Erin Owsley
was 3-for-3 with four runs
scored, four RBIs and a
home run.
Emma Taylor and Ila
Bowles were each 2-for-4.
Seaside improved to 2-0
with a 10-7 victory over
Valley Catholic in Cow-
apa League softball action
last Thursday at Broadway
Field.
Seaside pitcher Gracie
Rhodes struck out 10 bat-
ters with two walks, while
the Gulls supported her with
five runs in the fifth inning
and two in the sixth on their
way to the win.
The Valiants had six hits
and held a 6-3 lead in the
top of the fifth before Sea-
side’s rally in the bottom of
the fifth.
Seaside’s Tara Lair and
Kandice Flaigg had two hits
apiece, and Ila Bowles had
three hits with a double. Erin
Owsley had a double and
drove in four runs.
Malia Groshong had
a home run for Valley
Catholic.
On Monday, Seaside
pulled into a first place tie
with Banks in the Cowapa
League softball standings,
holding off Tillamook 6-5
in a single game Monday at
Tillamook.
The Lady Gulls scored
four runs in the second
inning on their way to a 6-1
lead after three. Tillamook
rallied with two runs in the
fifth and two runs with two
outs in the seventh, before
Gracie Rhodes retired the
final batter.
Kandice Flaigg, Emma
Taylor and Rhodes were all
2-for-3 at the plate, while
Flaigg scored twice and
Rhodes had a double for
Seaside, now 3-0 in league
play
Baseball
In baseball action, Asto-
ria and Seaside opened 2021
with a Clatsop Clash at
Broadway Field, where the
Gulls scored their third win
in the last four meetings,
also giving new coach Brett
Wolfe a victory in his Sea-
side debut. It was career win
No. 495 for Wolfe, after 494
at North Medford.
Seaside had an inside-the-
park home run from Jarred
White in the first inning, a
three-run double by Andrew
Teubner in the second, and
a solo inside-the-park HR
from Riley Kuhl in the fifth.
Shortstop Lawson Tala-
mantez turned in a few web
gems, as did Kuhl behind the
plate in the seventh inning.
On Monday, Seaside
warmed up for a showdown
with Banks with a 9-5 win at
Tillamook.
In a back-and-forth con-
test, Seaside led 2-0 after
two innings, Tillamook led
4-2 after three, and the teams
were tied 5-5 after four.
The Gulls scored two
runs in the fifth and two in
the seventh to pull away, and
pitchers Tanner Kraushaar
and Justin Morris did the
rest, holding Tillamook to
seven hits and four walks
with seven strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Tillamook
pitchers Trask Petersen
and Junior Gonzalez struck
out 18 batters with just
two walks and seven hits
allowed.